Things that won't happen;- The reincarnation of Christ

The full title of this theme ought to be “Things that won’t happen in the end-times”.
I’m referring to those anticipated events, featuring in speculations about the end-times, which are based on misinterpretations of what the Bible says.

In this case, I’m looking at “the return of Christ as a fresh reincarnation”.
This expectation is not based on any specific text. In fact there is no text anywhere in the New Testament which could even be misunderstood as making this promise. I once challenged a debater to find a single statement suggesting that Christ would return in this way, and he failed to come back to the discussion.

But there is an expectation of the Return of Christ which is fundamental to the New Testament, and there is a generic, incoherent belief in reincarnation which has become part of modern folk-religion. As a result, people with only a sketchy knowledge of Christian teaching are inclined to understand the first in the light of the second.
So any critique of this idea needs to be based on a better understanding of the way the New Testament is really expecting Christ to return.

One good place to start is the promise made when the disciples saw him depart;
“This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts ch1 v11).
“This Jesus”- that is, not another Jesus.
“In the same way”- that is, moving directly between heaven and earth. A quiet reincarnation could hardly be called “in the same way”.

The most relevant text in the gospel is the description which Jesus gives of the arrival of the Son of Man (that is, himself).
He says the Son of Man will be “coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew ch24 v30). In other words, in all the power of the direct presence of God.
This event would be followed immediately, as confirmed by several other references in the New Testament, by the time of judgement.
Again, a quiet reincarnation as an ordinary weak human baby would not fit this description.

He says also that the coming of the Son of Man will be “as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west” (v27).
Two very important points are condensed into that simile.
One is that his arrival will be sudden and without warning. “In the twinkling of an eye”. That is what is meant by the suggestion that he will come “as a thief in the night” (ch24 v43, 1 Thessalonians ch5 v2, 2 Peter ch3 v10, Revelation ch15 v16).
Once again, a quiet reincarnation and steady growth as a human child would not fit that description.
The other is that his arrival will be instantly recognised for what it is. As Revelation says, “he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him” (Revelation ch1 v7).
Yet again, a quiet rebirth as an unknown human child would not fit that description.
The popular idea that people “might not know” the true identity of a returned Christ walking around on the earth is quite incompatible with what the New Testament is telling us.
In fact we might take the opposite as an assured rule; that if we are not certain whether someone is the returned Christ, then he isn’t. We will know.

Jesus warns us in the same chapter that “Many will come in my name, saying ‘I am the Christ’, and they will lead many astray” (v5).
“False Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect” (Mark ch13 v22).
But we are given a clear rule of thumb, which is enough to detect all the fakes. If people tell you that he is “in the wilderness”, do not go there. Or if they tell you he is “in the inner rooms”, do not believe that either. In short, if you are told “He is there!” about any place at all, that is a reason not to believe them. If it is possible, in principle, to go somewhere to see him, then he’s an imposter (Matthew ch24 vv23-26).
When the true Christ returns, we will be in his presence without having to make journeys.

If the gospel teaching can provide such an effective test against the “false Christ”, that may be telling us the hidden, spiritual reason for the current popularity of belief in reincarnation.
It’s clearly impossible for anyone to imitate, convincingly, the Return of Christ as it is described in the New Testament.
Claiming to be a reincarnated Christ would be much easier.
However, nobody was going to believe in a reincarnated Christ before being convinced that it was possible for someone to return in that way.
But that is precisely the effect, and perhaps also the purpose, of the current fashion of talking about the possibilities of reincarnation.
In a recent television “black comedy” about the arrival of a destructive comet, it was taken for granted that the Vatican would look for a returned Christ among recently-born children. I don’t think they would- even the Vatican know their Bibles better than that.
The assumption is symptomatic, though, because it identifies the popular expectation. And that expectation would make life simpler for an aspiring antichrist, because he just has to arrive on the scene and say “Here I am. I’m the reincarnation you’ve been waiting for.”

So a general belief in reincarnation would be an essential and indispensable precondition for the emergence of a successful antichrist.
On that basis, I would identify it as a symptom of what John describes, the work of the “false prophets” preparing the way for antichrist (1 John ch4 vv1-3).
It is the product of what the translations misleadingly call “the spirit of antichrist”.
The New Testament is teaching us to expect Christ in a different way.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Interesting topic and one I've pondered lately.

I believe there is a qabalistic nature to the passages you have quoted and as such they're not to be interpreted literally (As with a good proportion of the bible, Torah and Talmud).

The second coming of Christ is often misinterpreted as Jesus Christ coming again. Incorrect. Christ is a state of understanding and union woth the divine rarely attained by humans. Jesus became the Christ on earth and dubbed the son of God for having reached that level. At least in my own understanding and estimation.

a reply to: IAMALLYETALLIAM
The New Testament is pretty clear about it being Jesus Christ coming again.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Love the explanation Fisraeli, as well as your series. I have to say, I never thought Jesus Christ's return was thought by anyone to be in the form of a reincarnation and birth here on Earth as a baby.

I figured everyone who believes he's coming back figures it would be as an adult (as he was) - whether on a magical cloud or spacecraft/interdimensional teleporter. Regardless of mode of transport, he would be coming back ready for action.

I've never thought he'd relive a life on earth either. It's tough tp descend from heaven in the clouds if you're walking around on the earth dodging end times persecution squads.

a reply to: dogstar23
I've often seen the question on these boards "How will we recognise Jesus when he returns?", which certainly takes it for granted that he would be an ordinary-looking person walking around on the earth. In other words, the assumption of "reincarnation" is now so common that people don't bother to spell it out. They don't even realise that a different picture exists.
As in the television "black comedy" I mentioned, which does the same thing.

a reply to: ketsuko
That's because you've actually read the New Testament. The reincarnated Jesus is a non-Christian fantasy.

Some evangelicals believe that the "chosen one" is already on Earth in the form of trump. He even said so himself....


www.marketwatch.com...

www.salon.com...

www.independent.co.uk...

a reply to: olaru12
Political hyperbole is not serious theology. He isn't the antichrist, either.

P.S. I don't quite see why Jews should have a "second coming" notion, since the concept necessarily depends on Jesus. They don't even believe in the first coming. I wonder if this is a western journalist's interpretation of "Messiah".

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: olaru12
Political hyperbole is not serious theology. He isn't the antichrist, either.

Isn't all theology just religious hyperbole based on a collection of varied myths from varied earlier civilizations?

I'm all for people of faith living and worshiping as they see fit. I just don't like to be preached to and condemned because I created my own faith in something else.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Well, it certainly was a question in St Paul's day. Hebrews 9 addresses why Christ doesn't need to reincarnate and die again for every generation or era, but that his one death represents the mastery over death for all the dead, no matter when they died.

So, make no mistake, Paul preaches, Christ was born of Heaven, is in Heaven and will return to us from heaven.

www.biblegateway.com...

a reply to: Sookiechacha#
I think the intention of Hebrews ch9 was to argue against "repeated sacrifice", but it certainly has additional value as an argument against reincarnation.

originally posted by: IAMALLYETALLIAM
a reply to: DISRAELI
The second coming of Christ is often misinterpreted as Jesus Christ coming again. Incorrect. Christ is a state of understanding and union woth the divine rarely attained by humans. Jesus became the Christ on earth and dubbed the son of God for having reached that level. At least in my own understanding and estimation.

It is called "Christ Consciousness" an awareness accepted by Buddhists and Hindi alike.

Yes, the "Christ" figure is mucho akin to foreign doctrines. It's all mixed in. Good thread!

Just as it did with Jesus, the new Christ will actually enter a living human and join his consciousness. He will have the power to steer the angels and access the power of god.

There is always a messiah candidate on this world. The Jewish people saying it has to be a direct decendent of David is not real, god can choose anyone he wants. We are all tested to see if we are worthy, I actually am pretty sure that I flunked that test long ago.

Something I thought I should add here. Did you realize that the job of Messiah in the Bible is supposed to have been a 4 man job? According to the books of Malachi and Zechariah there was supposed to be the Lord, his two branches or personal assistants, and Elijah the Prophet. It's also predicted that each branch is supposed to build a Jewish temple as well. And Revelation calls the branches the Witnesses as well.

So while Jesus isn't predicted to reincarnate as another person in the end time a branch is supposed to. There will be somebody showing up. And then both branches appear at the desecrated temple for the 3 and 1/2 years.

And that's probably part of the confusion about the Messiah. There's more than one and it's a 2500 year process approximately.

a reply to: vethumanbeing
But that's a non-Biiblical approach. Like reincarnation, it has the effect of opening up a path for "false Christs" to appear.

a reply to: rickymouse
But that's a non-Biblical approach. Like reincarnation, it has the effect of opening up a path for "false Christs" to appear.

a reply to: ntech
I won't go into the reasons why I disagree with your analysis of Messiah, but any kind of reincarnation is an infiltration from the non-Biblical thought world.

a reply to: DISRAELI

the kingdom of heaven is... inside

the coming of the son of man in the clouds of heaven is as the falling of the tongues of fire in the upper room

they will say lo he is out there in the desert... he is not there
Or look he is in the secret chambers...

Secret chamber is a storehouse, or associated with the body of flesh, as seen throughout the old testament, the belly

this is all symbolic for not looking for the physical return, remember that he spoke to them only in parables

Adam is the man of dust, of the earth, of flesh or of the belly, or of the carnal mind
Christ is the man of heaven, of the new mind

The upper room is the mind, which is why the disciples went there. It is the holy of holies symbolically. Or up the mountain where the clouds are.